Curious Bird

for the love of orange and brown

Another Friday is here already? Geesh. I suppose I notice when Friday comes around more than any other day. I wonder why that is?
I wanted to thank  all of you that  commented such sweet things about yesterdays post. The kisslock pouches seem to be a big hit. I hope Art Star peeps love them as much as you guys do. Once again, your kindness and support is amazing. Merci.

Before I make a run for my errands today, I wanted to show a shadowbox collage I recently completed and sent on it's way. It was as a special order from a bride to her maid of honor. The maid of honor is apparently very fond of "burnt orange, brown, and vintage fabrics", so I went nuts.  It was actually quite a lot of fun see what materialized when creating within someone else's perimeters parameters. I usually sit down with an idea in my head or a sketch and go to town with whatever colors I want.  I do love oranges and browns quite a lot --I tend to wear them more than create with them. Perhaps that is about to change.

Mixed Media Collage 9x9

And since I sorta miss Friday's with Motown, here's a little sneak peek at the snuggle/lovefest that often goes on between my Motown and D. Motown is pretty needy and can be downright annoying with his desire to be in your "space" (he's very vocal about this, too) , but tell me, who could resist a snuggle like this? What, with him gazing into your eyes and all...


Happy Friday, my blogging friends! Have yourself a splendid holiday weekend.

my friend the zipper

Wow! This week as flown by. The fact that today is Friday and tomorrow is the first day of April (my birthday month!) is really unbelievable to me. I've been so busy filling orders, working on a few very important swaps, and getting gifts together for someone quite special who happens to be born on April Fools Day, I truly haven't been able to blink! Somewhere in the midst of that craftiness, I managed to do my stinkin' taxes and that was a big zero on the fun scale.

Also, I can't believe it but I think I might have used my last zipper?! On a recent trip to the fabric store, I purchased 25 zippers and I'm fairly certain I've used them all on these little buggers:


Is it possible that I sewed 25 zipper pouches without losing it? I guess it is. There are some great new totes in the shop, too.

I hope you're weekend is nice. Did I hear somewhere that it's Daylight Savings Time already? Good grief.

Oh, I almost forgot a little dash of cat love, it being Friday and all. Can Mortimer and Motown get any sweeter? They are about to get sent to Cute Overload if they don't control themselves.  Their midday snuggle naps are killing me. I mean, who needs an eye mask when you can just burrow into your brother to block the sun...

Be Well.

Packrats Unite!

By now you've probably figured out I do my fair share of thrifting. I try to go to a couple of shops at least once or twice a week. Lately, I've had really good thrift store karma --in fact, maybe the best karma yet when it comes to furniture. While running errands yesterday, I decided to swing by one of my frequented shops. Look what I found:

Always the science nerd, Dustin calls this the amoeba table. I call it a sweet vintage coffee table in mint condition. Since our old coffee table was on the outs, this can go down as one of those "necessary" thrift store purchases. Not that necessary is ever really required when it comes to my thrifting habit...



Over the years, I've developed quite a vintage fabric addiction. The hunt is always fun and finding some is always exciting. Although scoring good condition vintage fabric is not always easy, the true test is scoring one of those sweet printed tea towels from the sixties or seventies. Those are such a rare find. At least in my world anyway. The one pictured above is quite lovely. It shows all the different flowers growing in various regions of Canada. I was thinking of making it into a bag, but I don't have the heart to cut it. I suppose for now it will have to reside with the rest of my packrat stash.


Since Motown didn't offer up any silly antics this week -- actually, he did provide them, I just didn't feel like sticking the camera in his face, today will have to be Friday's with The Boys. My friend Leah coined the phrase "true bromance" recently when referring to Dustin and his best guy pal. I think true bromance might be in order as the caption for the above photo as well.

Have a sweet weekend.

lazy daisy

it's friday AND fairly warm here, so I'm pretty much walking on air. spring-like air. I'm going to be doing some fun fabric shopping with my lady friend later today, which has me all worked up. I love trips to look at fabric, does that make me a granny? we're on a search for something to be made into curtains. she's doing some baby room
(re)decorating and has specified that she's in the market for something either space or cowboy themed. I suggested she pay homage to Steve Miller and do a Space-Cowboy theme, but I doubt she follows my lead. Oh well, I tried. perhaps she doesn't think of her little guy as a gangster of love...

Motown has decided that Project Greenlight is totally lame--he only liked that nice Jeff Balis man (nice smiles always get him) and therefore is back in action for an installment of Friday's with Motown. here you go.


first, I'm must say that he is quite peculiar. what on earth is he doing with his paw? this isn't the way most cats behave, it is? he was literally hanging out with that sassy paw for like ten minutes. he used to be so high-strung, and now look how freakin' relaxed he is. old age has been good to him.

see. here's a full body shot. I told you he's peculiar.

have a great weekend.

eat your greens

motown is so busted. I caught him having some of my plant leaves for a snack a couple of days ago. I like how he tried to innocently lick the poor mangled leaf in the last photo, like it would get him out of trouble or something.


and I've been meaning to show this print by ryan jacob smith. I got it around the holidays and only now got it up on the wall. The photo is bad quality and it looks much nicer on our white walls instead of the bright yellow, but you get the idea.

not that I need any more fabric, but I couldn't resist and ordered a few things from equilter the other day. I can't wait for it to arrive. who could resist a yard of this? not me.

and lastly, (I'm really dragging this out, aren't I) smarty pants, also known as Dustin has now gotten interviews at UMass Boston and U of Vermont. maybe we will settle on the east coast after all? place your bets, folks. it's coming down to the wire.

have a fantastic weekend.

I have my theories and my corners.

my sweet boy Motown (from Friday's with) has been known to have a few quirks. the two photos above capture this quirkiness brilliantly, however, I have no idea what he's up to? I do have some theories, which include warming a cold nose, or dealing with a sensitivity to sunlight, or even experiencing slight depression, but they are all most certainly just theories. it's time like this when I really wish he could talk, or at least do charades...



here's a photo I submitted yesterday to Amanda's new(ish) flickr group, Corners of My Home. the majority of our house is a little dark during the day, but our bedroom makes up for that with lots of great sunlight. and birds.

more soon.
have a great weekend.

fryday already...

in true Friday's with Motown fashion, here's a shot showing the spot where Motown spends the majority of his daily hours. and no, he's not depressed. at least I don't think he is. this is Motown's domain and if Mortimer even considers climbing in, he encounters substantial trouble. 

perhaps I should sew him some curtains to match his artwork. would that make me a seriously dorky cat lady or what? don't answer that.

moving on...

if you've been reading for a while, you know that my partner (the fellow nomad traveler) is a brainiac and in the last couple of months has gone through the grueling process of submitting applications to several PhD programs across the country. well, not to brag, but this week he received calls from programs in Philly and at Duke. word.
we've been celebrating with expensive dark chocolate and cheap red wine. priorities.

happy fryday.

friday's with motown is back...but first a shout out

 
Can you believe I'm still getting holiday goodies in the mail? This lovely Le Creuset (fancy!) teapot came yesterday along with some wonderful new music. thank you, my dear Patti and Mike, you're too sweet, and I swear my tea tastes better now...

okay, friday's with motown is back...and he's in true form. the above photo was taken when I caught him in the act of what I call the ol' paw and scoot. ever heard of it? maybe not, so here's an explanation. practically everyday upon returning home, I'm greeted with something out of place. that something is most commonly a pair of socks, a winter hat, or some type of craft supply(paint brushes are big in the craft supply category), and whatever the object du jour happens to be, it's hard to miss because it will be lying in the middle of the kitchen floor, abandoned. quite possibly scooted to death... 
I'm not saying the culprit is always motown, mortimer could very well be involved in 'operation relocate', it's just that the above photo is very good evidence for my case against motown. and to make things worse, I'm fairly certain he was going for my ceramic owl, either that or he was only innocently checking the time...
I'll never know.

have yourself a lovely weekend.

the day has come, my friends. that's right, after months of waiting I finally got to see the squid and the whale. the fact that this film has just now gotten anywhere near me (I had to drive 35 minutes) is one reason why I miss living in San Francisco or any city for that matter. and why the two super movie complexes here, which seem to have plenty of room for an indie film are set on showing the exact same crappy movies *cough cheaper by the dozen cough* is beyond me. anyway, if you haven't seen this movie, you should simply for Jeff Daniels' performance alone. He nails his character and he isn't very likeable which makes it all the better in my opinion. Also, the actor playing his twelve year old son is a gem. I really never knew a movie about divorce could bring about so much laughter. now if Match Point could find its way here...


Friday's with Motown will be back next week. this is just a gratuitous photo.

I'm headed out of town for a long weekend. I'll share the details and hopefully some decent photos upon my return. I hope to get some crafting done while away-- I have lots of plans if I could stop getting distracted.

more soon.

icy fun

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this beautiful ice-covered tree while driving to visit my family. Doesn't it look like it was dusted with powdered sugar?
and in keeping with the ice theme, below are some shots of D and I ice skating during our trip home. I had never done it before and as you can imagine it was really difficult (I'm naturally clumsy). Of course D was like freakin' Wayne Gretzky out there...

I started managing some solo skating after several trips around the rink with a helper. I look like a maniac out there. lucky for me I didn't mow any kids down.

I think "wayne" and I had a few balance issues in this shot. I seem pretty happy about it, though.

and in case you're curious, friday's with motown is on a short hiatus. motown requested some holiday time of his own.

happy friday.